Dissemination and Advocacy
In collaboration with the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC), we are working to ensure that all U.S. health care systems provide support for caregivers, in accordance with the latest research findings and best practices established here at the Steven S. Elbaum Family Center for Caregiving. Our goal is to disseminate our model of care and help other health care systems build support programs that are sustainable and that can expand over time to meet the changing needs of the growing number of U.S. caregivers.
Our partnership with CAPC is a powerful alliance. For over 25 years, CAPC has pioneered how health care systems develop palliative care programs. They provide clinical training and educational models on how to provide the best palliative care, training specialists and non-specialists alike. Together with CAPC, we are now expanding caregiver support using their existing infrastructure for dissemination and advocacy.
Advocacy for caregivers is vital—it is necessary to evolve how we think about caregivers’ roles and how we can best support them. When caregivers are well supported, not only are they protected from poor outcomes themselves, but there are substantial benefits to the patients for whom they provide care and health care systems more broadly. For example, reduced caregiver distress has been associated with decreased emergency room visits and hospital admissions, reduced nursing home stays, and improvements in patients’ physical symptoms and overall quality of life. This is why it is so critical that all caregivers have access nationally to the type of support provided in the Caregiver Support Program at Mount Sinai. In partnership with CAPC, the Elbaum Center is working to disseminate this model of care nationally, and to shift attitudes about caregivers within health care systems, the government, and beyond. We are committed to helping caregivers to be recognized for what they are and have always been: critical members of the health care team.
For questions or to make a gift, email brian.hoeflschweiger@mountsinai.org.